Aviation: Air Miles

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether frequent flyer and air miles schemes are incompatible with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and whether they have considered introducing an incentive scheme that rewards infrequent flyers.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Government have made clear their commitment to ensuring that aviation reflects the full costs of its climate change emissions. Any customer schemes are a commercial matter for the airlines concerned.

Forensic Science Laboratory

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will hold a public inquiry on the administration of the Northern Ireland Forensic Science Laboratory in Carrickfergus and its output over the last five years.

Lord Rooker: No.

Health: Orphan Medicines

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products has undertaken research into the effectiveness of regulations on the development and licensing of orphan medicines; and whether there has been an assessment of access to these medicines for patients in the United Kingdom.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Research findings into the effectiveness of regulations on the development and licensing of orphan medicines are presented in the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) report to the Commission in relation to Article 10 of Regulation 141/2000 on orphan medicinal products. It includes an assessment of access to these medicines for patients in the different member states, including the United Kingdom.
	The report concludes that while COMP considers that the current legislation framework for orphan medicinal products is suitable overall to achieve public health benefits for patients suffering from rare diseases, it has identified a number of policy areas that require strengthening. COMP makes six recommendations to stimulate and foster European Union policy and makes three suggestions for action to the European Commission.
	This report is published on the website of the European Medicines Agency under document reference EMEA/35218/2005 available at www.emea.eu.int and is available in the Library.

National Insurance

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many class 3 national insurance contributions are bought each year; and what is the estimated net cost to government, assuming average life expectancy.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information is not available in the format requested, but in the 2005-06 year Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs collected £161.5 million by way of class 3 national insurance contributions.

Pollution

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will consider measures to accelerate the rate of decrease in all nitrous oxide emissions from urban traffic to increase the protection of urban ozone levels.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Department for Transport (DfT) is working closely with Defra on the review of the UK air quality strategy, aimed at delivering the shared public service agreement (PSA) targets on air quality. It considers several new measures to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from urban traffic. These include tighter Euro-standards for cleaner vehicles, a package of incentives for early uptake of Euro-standards and low-emission vehicles, low-emission zones (LEZs) in London and elsewhere, and support for "soft measures" such as walking and cycling schemes.
	The DfT engages regularly with local authorities via the Low Emissions Strategies Forum, which discusses air quality (including NOx) in urban areas. Seven UK cities are currently planning low-emission zones, with the input and support of the DfT. The DfT and its agencies are also working very closely with TfL on the London low-emission zone. This has included discussing stakeholder issues, running an alternative certification process and annual testing for HGVs, informing individuals and businesses that are likely to be affected, and negotiations on the inclusion of parts of the trunk road network.

Secretary of State for Transport

Lord Jopling: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Department for Transport's failure to answer Lord Hanningfield's Question for Written Answer HL2185, by the due date of 7 March, was due to mislaying the Question; and, if not, whether they will explain the delay.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Department for Transport aims to ensure that noble Lords receive a substantive response to their Written Questions within the deadline. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, as on this occasion, but the department makes every effort to achieve these timescales.

Sudan: Darfur

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they are making to the Government of Sudan about the stamping of exit visas for humanitarian workers who have been working in Darfur with prohibitions on their return to Sudan within a six-month period from the date of departure; and what assessment they have made of the impact of these new restrictions on the ability of agencies to recruit humanitarian workers and their capacity to deliver relief programmes.

Baroness Amos: The stamping of passports with a six-month no re-entry clause is yet another bureaucratic impediment that has been imposed by the Sudanese authorities on the operations of humanitarian agencies, particularly international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). This new practice contravenes the UN/Government of Sudan joint communiqué signed on 28 March 2007 which the UK was prominent in helping to secure. This issue was raised, along with other impediments, in the joint communiqué's oversight committee, the first meeting of which was held on 2 May 2007.
	It is difficult to assess the specific impact of these new restrictions on the ability of humanitarian agencies to recruit international staff members. It is clear, however, that the cumulative effect of the many bureaucratic impediments faced by INGOs is having a severe impact on agencies' ability to deliver vital aid to the people of Darfur.

Transport: London Underground

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have discussed, or intend to discuss, with the Mayor of London and Transport for London, contingency plans in the capital should the Underground become impossible to operate in whole or in part during the predicted high summer temperatures because of excess heat within the system.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Officials at the Department for Transport discuss contingency planning with Transport for London and London Underground on a regular basis. However, the preparation, contents and implementation of these plans are operational matters for London Underground.